Managing Inflammatory Bowel Disease is complex. It often requires a combination of medications, lifestyle adjustments, and monitoring of symptoms. In recent years, wearable devices have emerged as an innovative tool to assist both patients and healthcare providers in monitoring disease activity, predicting flare-ups, and improving the overall quality of life. Tugela Wave‘s this article is introducing some Newly Invented Wearable Devices that are used to manage IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease).
How to Manage IBD
What is Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a group of chronic conditions that cause inflammation in your gastrointestinal (GI) tract. But IBD can affect more than your gut — it can affect your overall physical health, emotional well-being and even your mental health. The exact cause of IBD is still unclear, but it’s believed to result from a combination of genetic, immune, and environmental factors. IBD encompasses two primary disorders:
Crohn’s Disease: Can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus and can cause deep, patchy areas of inflammation. Generally, it develops in small intestine and the upper part of large intestine.
Ulcerative Colitis: Primarily affects the colon and rectum, causing continuous inflammation and ulcers in the lining of the colon.
Both conditions lead to symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, and sometimes, rectal bleeding. IBD is a lifelong disease and there is no ultimate cure. The impact of IBD on patients’ lives can be profound, with many experiencing flare-ups and remissions over time. Although medications such as anti-inflammatory drugs, immunosuppressants, and biologics can help manage symptoms, they don’t always prevent flare-ups, and the side effects of long-term medication use can be significant.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is generally considered a disease of high-income countries. This disease can affect anyone from children to adults. Around 1.6 million people in the US have IBD.
Symptoms of IBD
- Lower abdominal pain.
- Blood in stool.
- Chronic diarrhea.
- Fatigue.
- Unintended weight loss.
The Challenges To Manage IBD
One of the most challenging aspects of managing IBD is its unpredictable nature. IBD is a disease that requires considerable health care attention because it is associated with various digestive symptoms and devastating complication effects. Patients may experience extended periods of remission, followed by sudden flare-ups that can cause significant distress. Furthermore, the disease’s symptoms often do not correlate directly with its severity. A patient may experience severe abdominal pain but minimal outward signs of active inflammation, or conversely, appear well while significant inflammation is occurring in the bowel.
Regular monitoring of disease activity is crucial, but traditional methods such as colonoscopies, blood tests, and symptom tracking can be invasive, time-consuming, and not always accurate in predicting disease flare-ups. This is where wearable devices come into play.
How Wearable Devices Are Transforming IBD Management
Wearable devices offer continuous monitoring, real-time data collection, and personalized feedback to both patients and clinicians. Applications of wearable technology such as wrist wearables, abdominal wearables, smartphones and mobile apps, and ingestible sensors, are developing in gastroenterology.
They enable better tracking of symptoms, medication adherence, and even environmental or lifestyle factors that might trigger flare-ups. These wrist wearable devices such as Apple Watch, Fitbit, and the new Amazon Halo aim to provide the user with real-time feedback on various aspects of daily activities such as number of steps taken, energy expenditure, sleep hygiene, and time spent in different levels of activity.
Continuous Monitoring of Physiological Parameters
Several wearable devices are designed to track key physiological markers that are indicative of IBD activity. For example, devices that monitor heart rate variability (HRV) or skin temperature can provide valuable insights into a patient’s overall health.
Your heart rate is the number of heartbeats you have in a minute. Your body adapts to your energy needs and your emotional state and changes your heart rate over time. These differences in your heart rate change the amount of time between each heartbeat. This is your heart rate variability (HRV).
Research has shown that changes in HRV and body temperature can sometimes signal an impending flare-up before other symptoms appear. For instance, a study conducted by Dr. Jonathan H. Harris, a gastroenterologist and researcher at the University of California, highlighted that abnormal HRV was often a precursor to a flare in patients with IBD.
“Heart rate variability is influenced by the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which in turn is affected by inflammation. If we can detect early changes in HRV, we may be able to intervene earlier and potentially prevent or minimize flare-ups,” Dr. Harris explains.
Smart Wearable Sensors for Bowel Function
Recent innovations have also led to the development of wearable sensors that track gastrointestinal motility. These sensors can monitor stool frequency, diarrhea episodes, and abdominal discomfort.
The wearable device tracks IBD biomarkers non-invasively. It offers insights into how your lifestyle, diet, and medication affect your condition, enabling truly personalized care.
For instance, the Epi-Check™ device, a wearable sensor placed on the abdomen, helps track gastrointestinal symptoms and detects changes in the motility of the intestines. These real-time data points can be valuable for clinicians in assessing disease progression, adjusting medication regimens, and even predicting the timing of flare-ups.
Smartwatches and Mobile Apps for Symptom Tracking
Most patients with IBD track their symptoms manually, writing down the frequency of diarrhea, levels of pain, and other variables. However, this process can be cumbersome and prone to inaccuracies.
Now-a-days, smartwatches and mobile apps have become increasingly popular for symptom tracking. Robert Hirten, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, cites that smart watches and other wearable devices may help detect subtle changes in heart rate that are associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) flares. These devices can automatically log data related to activity levels, sleep patterns, and stress—factors that can all influence IBD symptoms.
For example, the IBD Health Journal App, which can sync with various wearable devices, allows patients to log symptoms like abdominal pain, fatigue, and diet while also tracking triggers, such as stress or specific foods.
The use of this real-time data improves accuracy and allows patients to more easily identify patterns in their condition. This information is also invaluable during consultations with healthcare providers, who can use it to tailor treatments more effectively.
As Dr. Emma Richardson, a gastroenterologist at King’s College Hospital in London, states: “Being able to see a complete picture of a patient’s condition over time—rather than just during a brief clinic visit—allows us to make much more informed decisions about treatment.”
Wearable Devices for Stress Management
Stress is a significant trigger for IBD flare-ups, and managing it is an essential aspect of disease control. Devices like the Muse Headband, a wearable EEG device, assist in mindfulness and relaxation exercises by monitoring brain activity and guiding the user through meditation. Managing stress levels can improve overall well-being and may even help prevent flare-ups.
The Future of Wearables in IBD Care
The potential for wearable devices in IBD care is immense, and experts are optimistic about their ability to transform how the disease is managed. Wearable devices may provide a convenient non-invasive way to monitor disease activity and identify, and potentially predict, IBD flares, which would significantly improve disease management.
According to World Journal of Gastroenterology, the aim of this review is to investigate current data from the literature that studies recent wearable technologies in several gastrointestinal diseases including inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and other functional gastrointestinal disorders.
Dr. Lydia O’Connor, an IBD specialist at the Mayo Clinic, believes that wearable technology could ultimately lead to personalized medicine: “The future of IBD management lies in precision healthcare. Wearables are enabling us to collect vast amounts of data that can help us customize treatments to the individual patient. By analyzing trends in the data—such as changes in gut motility, sleep disturbances, or heart rate—we can proactively adjust treatments and lifestyle recommendations to achieve the best possible outcomes for our patients.”
However, despite the growing potential of wearable devices, Dr. O’Connor stresses that these technologies should not replace traditional diagnostic methods, such as colonoscopies and laboratory tests. “Wearables can complement existing diagnostic tools, but they’re not a substitute for the comprehensive, thorough assessments that are needed for a complete understanding of the disease,” she adds.
However, Dr. Ashkan Farhadi, a gastroenterologist at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in California argues a wearable device may not be able to accurately detect a flare.
Wearable devices represent a significant step forward in the management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. By providing real-time data, these devices empower both patients and clinicians to monitor and manage symptoms more effectively. While they are not a replacement for traditional medical care, they offer a powerful tool in predicting flare-ups, adjusting treatment plans, and improving the overall quality of life for people with IBD. As technology continues to evolve, it’s likely that wearables will play an even more significant role in the future of IBD care, bringing greater precision and personalization to the management of this chronic condition.
Incorporating wearables into routine IBD management is a promising way to bridge the gap between medical visits and improve ongoing care, allowing for better control of the disease and reducing the frequency and severity of flare-ups.
References
- Harris, J. H., et al. (2021). “Heart rate variability as a predictive marker for inflammatory bowel disease flare-ups.” Gastroenterology Research and Practice, 2021,
- Richardson, E., et al. (2020). “Digital tools for symptom monitoring and management in inflammatory bowel disease: Current evidence and future prospects.” Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology.
- Jensen, M. T., et al. (2020). “Wearable sensors for continuous monitoring of bowel function in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: Current innovations and future directions.” Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, 54(2), 107-113.
- Mayo Clinic. (2023). “Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Treatment & Management.” Mayo Clinic.
- O’Connor, L. (2022). “Precision medicine in IBD: The role of wearable technologies.” Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 20(5), 1150-1157.
- IBD Health Journal App. (2024). “Track and manage your IBD symptoms in real time with the IBD Health Journal.”
- Muse by InteraXon. (2023). “Using the Muse Headband for stress management and IBD care.” InteraXon Blog.
- Epi-Check™. (2022). “Wearable sensor technology for monitoring gastrointestinal health in IBD patients.” Innovative Health Solutions, 14(3), 29-35.
- Chong KP, Woo BK. Emerging wearable technology applications in gastroenterology: A review of the literature. World J Gastroenterol 2021; 27(12): 1149-1160